It has been awhile since I could post with all that has gone on. I am so sorry. Here is my chance to catch everyone up on what Forward Motion has been up to over the summer and what is to come this fall.
First, it was an honor to have the Gilda’s Club of Louisville out for a 1 day camp for their kids ages 6-12. This was truely a blessing for Forward Motion to be involved with this organization. The Gilda’s Club of Louisville is a non-profit organization where men, women, children and families with cancer can come to build emotional and social support. Our camp was for children ages 6-12 who have been affected by cancer whether it was a family member who had it, they had lost a family member from it, they currently are fighting the battle of cancer or they themselves had survived it. This group was given 3 activities to work through. A branding activity, painting a horse and an obstacle course. Each of these activities were symbolic in the battle that they have gone through. To see these children paint their horse with themes of “living hope”, “survivor”, “strength” and “love” was an emotional experience. But, the most memorable activity for that day was “letting go”. This activity they where asked to write on steamers the things they needed to let go of. Our large Percheron Draft Horse, Big Jim was brought out and the streamers where tied to his halter. The kids discussed what does Big Jim represent to you. For some it was “God”. Big Jim was taken out to the pasture gate with the kids lined up against the fence cheering for him. Once the rope was disconnected from Big Jim’s halter he thundered through the pasture, hearing his hooves hit the ground until he ran out of sight. At that moment it was concluded that they no longer carried the burden anymore, Big Jim did and it was time to let go. This was an emotional filled day for us at Forward Motion and for the Gilda’s Club. We look forward to having the Gilda’s Club out again in the future.
Wednesday, August 20th, Forward Motion had the opportunity of presenting a seminar on Hippotherapy, Therapeutic Riding and Equine Assisted Psychotherapy at the University of Louisville Hospital. It was a great experience to be able to educate them on the services that are available outside of the typical hospital setting. We were able to explain the benefits of our programs and our creditonals of providing each of these services. We are continuing to look forward to having more opportunities to educate staff and physicians in the hospital settings of our services.
Saturday, September 6th at the Kentucky Horse Supply was a kids fair. Available was face painting, coloring contest, pony rides, and other varies activities. Forward Motion had a booth at the fair to educate the community on services available and volunteer opportunities. It was a beautiful day for the fair. We had a good time meeting new people and seeing our clients enjoy the day as well. Also available for the vendors, who had the most visitors sign under their organization won a gift certificate to the Kentucky Horse Supply. I am pleased to announce, thanks to all our kiddo’s families, our family and friends, Forward Motion is the recipient of the gift certificate. We are excited to buy new helmets for our clients with this money. Thank you to all who joined us that day and made it possible. We hope that you had a Great Time, we sure did.
Tuesday and Wednesday September 16th and 17th, Forward Motion was honored to have a booth at the Kentucky Medical Association Conference. We had the privilege of meeting most of the Physicians in the State of Kentucky. This allowed us to begin to make our mark in the Physician world. There is little research on Hippotherapy and the benefits of this type of treatment tool. For Physicians, it is important for treatment to be of scientific value. We were able to educate Physicians both in our community and outside our community of this wonderful treatment tool. We would like to say a BIG THANK YOU to Dr. John Parker and Mr. Bob Klinglesmith for all the help they gave us. Without them, this opportunity would not have been possible.
This about covers it for now. Check back soon for more!